Rapid cut-off machine



Oct. 13, 1936. H D CORWIN 2,057,011

RAPID CUT-OFF MACHINE Filed July 30, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 HowAreD D.Colzwm by o f/ Aomey @Um DH HW Oct. 13, 1936. H. D. coRwlN RAPID CUT-OFFMACHINE Filed July 30, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 m s ik fn Ven for HOWARD D.Cowm by m A #orney ogm 1,11 muuu:

oct. 13, 193s. H, D, CORWIN 2,057,011

RAPID CUT-OFF MACHINE Filed July 50, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 bfCH mm1 Oct.13, 1936. D CQRW|N 2,057,011

RAPID CUT-OFF MACHINE Filed July 30, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 HOWARD D.Coewm yd/Mlm Uuml V11 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAPID CUT-OFF MACHINEHoward D. Corwin, Jackson, Mich., assigner, by

mesne assignments, to American Electric Fusion Corporation, Chicago,Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application July 30, 1932, Serial No.626,888

10 Claims. (Cl. 81-190) This invention relates to improvements in themethod of cutting relatively long lengths of pipe or tubing into shorterlengths at a high rate of production.

sive severed portions of stock will all be of substantially uniform,predetermined length.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thedescription of the invention The manufacture of bearings, bushings, andproceeds. It is to be clearly understood, how- 5 similar hollow ortubular parts frequently inever, that I do not intend to limit myself tothe volves the operation of cutting long, standard exact details shownor described, but that I inlengths of hollow material into shorterlengths tend to include, as part of my invention, all such of a sizesuitable for fabrication of the desired changes and modiications ofparts as would ocparts. At the present time, the most common cur tothose skilled in this art and would fall 10 method of performing thisoperation involves within the scope of the claims. the use of speciallathes with hollow headstocks In the drawings wherein several possibleemof large internal diameter. One end of the tube bodiments are setforth, is gripped in a chuck, and the tube rotated, while Fig. 1 is aperspective view of a complete maa parting tool is fed radially into thework, thus chine wherein are combined most of the ele- 15 severing apiece of the desired length from the ments hereinafter described. mainbody of the tube. Such tubes are long, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thesame machine, and cannot be rotated rapidly because of whip and shows inparticular the cut-off mechanism in or vibration. Production is furtherimpeded by section.

the necessity of halting rotation of the chuck to Fig. 3 is a frontelevation taken on line 3-3 20 release the same before the tube can beadvanced of Fig. 2, and broken at successively, receding to a newcutting position, and by the fact that points to show the Working partsin proper spait is possible to use only one or two parting cialrelationship. tools simultaneously on a cut. For such reasons Fig. 4 isa cross sectional view showing an opas these, present methods ofproduction are slow, tional construction wherein the clamping mech- 25cumbersome, and ineflicient. Thus it becomes anism is more closelyincorporated with the cutthe primary object of the present invention toolf mechanism than in the preceding figures. provide novel means fordoing this type of work Fig. 5 is a front elevation, taken on line 5-5more rapidly and efciently. of Fig. 4.

More specically stated, one of the objects of In the particularembodiment disclosed in Figs. 30 the invention is to eliminate thenecessity of ro- 1 and 2, the machine is as follows: It consists, tatingthe work, by providing means for rotating broadly, of a means of feedinga relatively long the parting tool about the work, thus permitting pieceof pipe or tubing into position, clamping the the use of higher cuttingspeeds than are obtubing firmly against motion in any direction,

tainable when the work is rotated. and cutting oif a relatively shortpiece of pre- 35 A, Another object of this invention is to providedetermined length by means of one or more means for employing aplurality of cutter blades knives or parting tools which rotate aboutthe l, simultaneously on the same cut, thereby dividaxis of the tubingwhile also feeding into said ing the duty between the various blades.This tubing or work in a substantially radial direcnot only reduces wearon the blades and permits tion. The machine, when in action, will repeatlonger periods of operation without resharpenthe above cycle ofoperation (feeding into posiing, but also permits the use of fasterfeeds tion, clamping, and cutting off) until the work without increasingthe thickness of chip rehas been entirely cut up into short pieces ofsubmoved by any individual blade. stantlally uniform, predeterminedlength.

A further object of this invention is to pro- Detailed reference willnow be made to the vide independently operated means whereby thedrawings in order that the construction of my stock is clamped rigidly,and so as to reduce improved cut-off machine may be clearly underto aminimum the vibration and chatter comstood by those skilled in the art:A base I has monly associated with the operation of parting mountedthereon a roll feed mechanism 2 driven tools, through a friction drivetending at all times to 5o A still further object of this invention isto force the work 3 in the direction of the arrow 4. provide a means forautomatically advancing the Motion in this direction is arrested by theadjuststock into successive positions whenever it is reable positivestop 5 which is loosely pivoted on a leased from the grip of theclamping mechanism, rod 6'. Lugs 5'-5" are provided upon the stop andfor controlling said positions so that succes- 5 and are located in thepath of the operating 55 lever 6 which may also be loosely pivoted onthe rod 6. The spacing of the lugs 5*-5" is such as to provide lostmotion with reference to the travel of the lever 6. When the lever ismoved rearwardly the lug 5" is engaged by the lever 6 and the stop 5 isrocked out of position. Likewise, when the lever 6 is brought forwardly,the lug 5 is engaged and the stop 5 is rocked into position; thetendency for the overbalanced lever 6 to continue forward will hold thestop 5 in position. A link 1 is positively connected to a valve 8inserted in conduit connections (not shown) leading to the work holder 9through a lost motion pin and slot connection 1. A spring 8 normallyholds the valve 8 open to permit the operating fluid to close the jawsof the work holder 9 in a well known manner. As is shown in Fig. 1, whenthe lever 6 is moved forward to engage the lug 5', and rock the stop 5into position, the pin will slide in the slot 1' until the end isreached and the valve 8 will be closed to release the work holder andpermit the feed roll to advance the work against the stop. No speciflcnovelty resides in the feed roll 2 or work holder 9 as they are bothwell known in the trade. These elements are claimed, however, in a novelcombination embracing the cut-off mechanism generally designated as IUwhich is the heart of the machine.

The rotating parts of the cut-off mechanism are driven by a prime moverII, through a speed change gear box I2, and gear train I3, the finalmember of which meshes with gear teeth I4 cut on the periphery of thecutter head I5. This cutter head is a flanged tubular piece rotatablymounted within an annular housing I6, and embodying a hollow stemportion I1 concentric with the axis of the work and with the axis of.rotation of the cutter head.

The outer face I8 of the cutter head is in a plane perpendicular to theaxis of rotation, and is slotted, as at I9, Fig. 3, to receive one ormore tool slides 20 which are thereby restrained to motion relative tothe cutter head in a direction substantially radial to the axis ofrotation thereof. Tool holders 2| are mounted upon the tool slides, andadapted to adjustably secure the parting tools 22 against any motionrelative to the tool slides.

A pinion 23 is keyed to the hollow stem portion I1 of the cutter head,and a corresponding pinion 24 is rotatably mounted upon said hollowstem. One or more planet gears 25 are in mesh with pinion 23, and one ormore corresponding planet gears 26 are in mesh with pinion 24. Theplanet gears are rotatably supported upon shafts 21, the ends of whichare secured in a cage 28. The planet gears 25 and 26 are free to rotateindependently of. one another about their common axis, but arerestrained by shafts 21 from any other motion relative to each other.The planet gears 25 are also in mesh with an internal gear 29 which maybe integral with the cover 3|, or otherwise fixed in position relativeto the housing I6. Planet gears 26 are in mesh with an internal gear 30corresponding to 29, but rotatably mounted within the housing I6, andindependently operated, preferably by means of a handle, such as 33, butreadily adapted to operation through links and levers or by anindependently controlled power source.

A cam plate 32 integral with or xedly secured to pinion 24, embodies oneor more cam slots 36 which engage with rollers 34 rotatably mounted uponfollowers 35, which are nxedly secured to tool slides 20. Obviously, anymotion of the cam plate 32 relative to the cutter head I5 will operatethrough the rollers and followers to impart radial motion to the toolholders, thereby feeding the parting tools 22 into or away from theWork.

When the cutter head is held in a fixed position, there is nopossibility of relative movement between pinion 23, planet gears 25, andinternal gears 29. Consequently, when rotary motion is imparted tointernal gears 30 through handle 33, planet gear 26 is caused to rotateabout the shaft 21, and in doing so causes pinion 24 and cam plate 32 torotate in a direction counter to that of 38. As explained in thepreceding paragraph, this rotation of the cam plate relative to thecutter head causes radial movement of the tool slides and cutters intoor away from the work. In broader terms, any movement of internal gear30 relative to 29 will cause rotation of planet gears 26 relative to 25(about shaft 21) and also causes movement of pinion 24 relative to 23,thereby advancing or retracting the tools.

'Ihis latter statement is true, not only when the cutter head isstationary, but also when it is rotating. In the latter case the planetgears are given a primary rotation about shafts 21, as well as asecondary rotation about the axis of rotation of the cutter head. Thissecondary rotation is determined by the relative sizes of the gears andby the rotational speed of the cutter head, and is absolutely flxed forany given value of the latter. Nevertheless, any movement of theinternal gears 30 will affect the primary rotation of planet gears 26,causing rotation of the latter about shaft 21 relative to planet gears25, and thereby producing movement of pinion 24, relative to 23. Inother words, relative movement between members of each pair of internalgears, planet gears, and pinions will be identical at all speeds of thecutter head, and independent thereof. Radial motion of the cutter bladesis therefore dependent solely upon the movement imparted to internalgears 30.

There are many applications of this type of mechanism. Its operation, asapplied to the structure disclosed in Figs. 1 and 3 is as follows: Withthe cutter head rotating at a suitable speed, the operator pulls lever 6forward, thus moving positive stop 5 into an effective position andoperating valve 8 through link 1, thereby releasing chuck 9. Tubing 3,now unclamped, is free to move forward under the compulsion of feedmechanism 2, until the end of the tubing strikes the positive stop. Whenthis position is reached the operator returns lever 6 to its normalposition. The rst part of this movement permits valve 8 to return to itsnormal position wherein chuck 9 is caused to grip the tubing tightly;the remainder of this movement returns the positive stop to anineffective position. The tubing is now in a position to be cut, and theoperator pulls handle 33 or operates other means for imparting limitedrotation to internal gears 30. The parting tools 22, while rotatingabout the work, are thus caused to feed radially into the work aspreviously described, severing a piece of the desired length from themain body of the tubing. When this piece is removed, and the bladesretracted, the cycle of operation has been completed.

A somewhat different modification is disclosed in Fig. 4. The chuck,generally designated as 31, is mounted upon the cover 3l of the eut-offmechanism I D. A hollow stem 38 is inserted through the hollow stem I1leaving ample clearance to permit the free rotation of the latter. Thereciprocating piston rod 39 with a central hole large 75 enough toreceive the tubing 3,'is fitted into the hollow stem 38. The piston rod39, at a point near the cutter blade, is provided with a tapered end 40,which ts into a removably secured tapered socket Il, and with slots 42which permits contraction in diameter. Movement of the piston rod in thedirection of receding diameter of the tapered end forces said taperagainst that of the socket 4I, and pinches the inner surface of the rodagainst the tubing, thus clamping said tubing close to the point ofcutter action, and substantially eliminating vibration. The tapered end40 is preferably made as a separate, removably secured element, or aseries of such elements to receive dilerent sizes of tubing. The cycleof operation remains unchanged with this type oi.' construction.

It is not deemed necessary to make specific reference to all partsdesignated by primed numerals in Fig. 4 for the reason that such partsmay be identical with those herebefore described and designated bycorresponding unprimed numbers in Fig. 2.

From the foregoing description, it will become apparent to those skilledin the art that I have provided a new principle in cut-o machines whichis rapid and efficient and can be satisfactorily operated by unskilledlabor.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a rapid cut-olf machine, the combination of a work holder, of axed cutter head housing, a cutter head through which the work is passedentirely located within said housing, said cutter head having a faceportion in which tools are received for movement to and from the work,an external gear carried by said cutter head located adjacent the facethereof, a gear train coacting with said external gear to drive saidcutter head, tools supported in said cutter head for rotation therewithas a unit, means driven by said cutter head and rotatable therewith as aunit for operating said tools and means for eecting relative rotationbetween said cutter head and said first means for operating said tools.

2. In a rapid cut-off machine, the combination of a work holder, of afixed cutter head housing, of a cutter head through which the work ispassed located within said housing and having a face portion in whichtools are supported for radial movement to and from the work, anexternal gear carried by said cutter head and located adjacent said faceportion, said head being directly externally supported on antifrictionbearings carried by the said housing and located in substantially thesame general vertical plane as said face portion and external gear, agear train coacting with said external gear for driving said cutterhead, tools supported in said cutter head for rotation therewith as aunit, means separate from and driven by said cutter head and rotatabletherewith as a unit for operating said tools, and means for eiectingrelative rotation between said cutter head and said rst means foroperating said tools.

3. In a rapid cut-off machine, the combination with a work holder, of axed cutter head housing, ak cutter head through which the work is passedlocated within said housing, said head having a face portion, a geartrain coacting with said external gear for driving said cutter head,said head being directly externally supported on antifriction bearingscarried by said housing and located in substantially the same generalvertical plane as said face portion, tools supported in said cutter headfor rotation therewith as a unit, means separate from and driven by saidcutter head and rotatable therewith as a unit for operating said tools,and means for eiecting relative rotation between said cutter head andsaid first means for operating said tools.

4. In a rapid cut-01T machine, the combination oi a Work holder, of acompact iixed cutter head housing and cutter head assembly comprising acutter head through which the work is passed entirely located withinsaid housing and having a face portion for receiving tools to be movedto and from the work, said cutter head having an external gear locatedadjacent said face portion, a gear train coacting with said externalgear for driving said cutter head. tools located in said cutter head androtatable therewith as a unit, means separate from and driven by saidcutter head and rotatable as a unit for operating said tools, and meansfor operating said rst means for effecting relative rotation betweensaid cutter head and said first means for operating said tools.

5. In a rapid cut-oil machine, the combination of a work holder, of acompact xed cutter head housing and cutter head assembly comprising acutter head through which said work is passed located within saidhousing, said cutter head having an elongated hub portion through whichthe Work passes, a face portion through which tools are supported formovement to and from the work and an external gear adjacent said faceportion, means located about said hub portion and driven thereby androtated as a unit therewith tor operating said tools, and means foreffecting relative movement between said cutter head and said firstmeans for operating said tools.

6. In a rapid cut-o machine, a compact xed cutter head housing, cutterhead and work holder assembly comprising a rotatable tool supportingcutter head concentrically journaled and located entirely within saidhousing, having a hub portion through which the work may pass, a workclamp concentrically located within said hub, said cutter head having aface portion in which-the tools are supported and rotated therewith as aunit, means for clamping said work holder upon the Work adjacent saidface portion. means located about said hub portion and driven therebyand rotated as a unit therewith for operating said tools, and means foreffecting relative rotation between said cutter head and said ilrstmeans for operating said tools.

7. In a rapid cut-off machine, a compact xed cutter head housing, cutterhead and work holder assembly comprising a rotatable tool supportingcutter head concentrically journaled and located entirely within saidhousing, having a hub portion through which the work may pass, a workclamp concentrically located within said hub, said cutter head having aface portion in which the tools are supported and rotated therewith as aunit, an external gear carried by said head adjacent said face portion,a gear train for driving said head through said external gear, means forclamping said work holder upon the work adjacent said face portion,means located about said hub portion and driven thereby and rotated as aunit therewith for operating said tools, and means for effectingrelative rotation between said cutter head and said iirst means foroperating said tools.

8. In a rapid cut-oil! machine, a compact xed cutter head housing,cutter head and work holder assembly comprising a rotatable toolsupporting cutter head concentrically journaled and located entirelywithin said housing, having a hub portion through which the work maypass, a work clamp concentrically located within said hub, said cutterhead having a face portion in which the tools are supported and rotatedtherewith as a unit, an external gear carried by said head adjacent saidface portion, a driven gear meshing with said external gear at thebottom for driving said head through said external gear, means forclamping said work holder upon the work adjacent said face portion,means located about said hub portion and driven thereby and rotated as aunit therewith for operating said tools, and means for eifectingrelative rotation between said cutter head and said rst means foroperating said tools.

9. In a rapid cut-off machine, the combination with a xed cutter headhousing, of a rotatable cutter head concentrically located in saidhousing through which the work may pass, a removable stop, means forfeeding the work against said stop, a work holder, operating meanstherefor, and a lever operably 'connected to said operating means andsaid stop, whereby said stop and operating means are actuated in timedrelation.

10. In a rapid cut-oi machine, the combination with a fixed cutter headhousing, of a rotatable cutter head concentrically located in saidhousing through which the work may pass, a removable stop, means forfeeding the work against said stop, a work holder, operating meanstherefor, and mechanism connected to said stop and said operating meansfor succcessively clamping said work and removing said stop.

HOWARD D. CORWIN.

